Hyderabad: At a time when the Hyderabad traffic police are cracking down on fake and tampered number plates, a ground check by TOI found that selling of unauthorised number plates without any customer verification was rampant across the city. Right from Punjagutta and Begumpet to Charminar and Dabeerpura, dozens of roadside vendors were found brazenly selling them to anybody walking in, without any verification of vehicle ownership or identity.Some of these busy areas had rows of shops dedicated to this business, with customers walking in every few minutes. TOI visited, 12 such shops, out of which only three asked for an official document such as a Registration Certificate (RC). Most smaller shops asked for no document at all. They only wanted a vehicle number, which this correspondent randomly generated on the spot. In less than 15 minutes, the number plate was delivered. There were no demands for a RC or even a driving license, Aadhaar card or any other government document to prove that the customer was genuine or even owned a vehicle.“There are hundreds of people who come in daily, how many will we verify?” said a shop owner, adding that there were no official guidelines from the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) regarding verification and that they were “only running a business to earn a living.” The plates cost between Rs200 and Rs350, depending on the material used. Steel plates were the cheapest and most commonly sold, while acrylic and fibre variants cost slightly more. Specialised cutting machines were used to print and trim the sticker, which were then pasted on the plate.Across India, all vehicles registered after April 1, 2019, must have High-Security Registration Plates (HSRPs) under Rule 50 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules (CMVR), 1989. For new vehicles, manufacturers supply the HSRPs and authorised dealers fit them before delivery. For owners of vehicles registered before April 1, 2019, it is mandatory to upgrade to HSRPs, but these can only be fitted at government-authorised fitment centres and not at roadside number plate shops or radium shops.Yet, violations galore. Over the past one month, about 50 people were detected using illegally made number plates that carried a false or copied vehicle registration number, according to the officials. Similarly, in a recent interstate drug smuggling racket bust by Shamshabad police, the accused were found driving vehicles with nonexistent registration plates, to evade enforcement.TOI’s ground report found vinyl and radium shops were also selling “fancy” number plates in different shapes and sizes, with stylish fonts and designs not permitted under official norms. “When we warn them of police action, the customers ask us not to bother about it. So, we just do our work,” a shop owner in Debeerpura said, adding that these plates cost a little more between Rs 600 and Rs 1000.And while experts raise serious concern over this misuse, the sale of cheap, metal plates continue abashed. Experts point out how traders are using a loophole in the law to get away with this. “This is a serious issue, but the transport department has failed to issue clear guidelines to these shop owners.” “Also, there is no deadline set for affixing of HSRPs and because the system is not user-friendly, people continue finding ways to bypass the rules,” said Dheerendra Samineni, a road safety expert. Adding that practical solutions need developed in collaboration with road safety experts.“As of now, no deadline has been set to replace their old number plates, because of the sheer number of people in the city, but the department will examine the issue, carry out the necessary checks, and issue appropriate guidelines.” said C. Ramesh, Additional Transport Commissioner, when asked about the measures being taken to curb the manufacture and sale of fake number plates.Speaking to TOI, Rahul Hegde, deputy commissioner of police (Traffic) said that “we have an AI-enabled application for field officers that analyses a vehicle’s make, model, colour and registration number by integrating with the vehicle database to identify number plates. We are also working towards extending the same technology to stationary traffic enforcement cameras.”However, when TOI participated in a special drive in Malakpet with traffic officials, this correspondent found that while hundreds of vehicles passed by, only the ones which got pulled over could be checked, since the app scans only one vehicle at a time. More importantly, a cloned number plate was flagged only if the genuine owner had already reported misuse. Leaving physical verification of the vehicle and its documents as the only way to detect them.According to the DCP, using a fake or tampered number plate is a criminal offence, not merely a traffic violation and will be booked under 318(4) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), with punishment of imprisonment up to seven years. “An FIR will be registered, the vehicle will be seized and the accused will face trial in court. Shop owners who manufacture fake number plates can also be booked under criminal law, as they may be held liable if such plates are later used in offences. They should verify the vehicle’s RC before manufacturing any number plate,” the official added.
